Fall of the titan: ‘Fiscal cliff threatens US supremacy’

WASHINGTON: International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde said Friday the looming ‘fiscal cliff’ in the United States threatens the country’s international supremacy and the fragile global recovery.

In an interview with BBC World News, Lagarde noted the US fiscal cliff, a combination of severe tax increases and spending cuts due in January, will probably wipe out growth in the world’s largest economy.

“The real issues are, in a way, the supremacy of the US and its leadership role in the world,” said the managing director of the Washington-based fund. “To make sure that that leadership endures, the uncertainty has to be removed because uncertainty fuels doubt as to that leadership.” With the deadline fast approaching, President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans remain at loggerheads in talks to find a longer-term deficit reduction plan that would avert the cliff.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2012.